The present invention relates to electrophotographic copiers having paper supplying devices, and more particularly to those electrophotographic copiers provided with a housing comprised of a lower frame and an upper frame.
The housing of a conventional electrophotographic copier (see e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 3,997,262) is divided into two portions. Namely, an upper frame including the photoconductive drum, and a lower frame including devices for copy paper feeding, transfer and fixing etc. The upper frame is pivotally connected to the lower frame for raising the former about the pivotal connection to enable access to the mechanisms of the copying apparatus. Thus, replacing and maintenance of the photoconductive drum or other machine parts may be effected very efficiently. Especially, jammed copy paper may be readily removed when the jamming occurs.
Another conventional electrophotographic copier (see e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 3,985,436) has disposed in the lower frame both a lower paper supply device, for automatically supplying copy paper from a copy paper cassette to a traveling path, and an upper paper supply device, for manually supplying copy paper from a manual feed guide to the traveling path. In such above-mentioned copiers, copy paper supplied through the manual feed guide is guided by an upper paper guide path until it reaches the paper traveling path. Copy paper supplied from the cassette is guided by a lower paper guide path until it reaches the paper traveling path. The upper paper guide path is defined by an upper paper guide plate and an intermediate paper guide plate spaced from the upper paper guide plate. The lower paper guide path is defined by a lower paper guide plate and the above mentioned intermediate paper guide plate spaced from the lower paper guide plate.
However, quite frequently, paper jams at the intersection of the upper and lower paper guide paths. Furthermore, paper continues to be automatically supplied from the cassette of the copy paper supply device after jamming occurs at the intersection. Even if the upper frame of the housing is raised from the lower frame, the jammed paper in the paper guide path cannot be removed, since the space between the plates of the lower and upper paper guide paths is small. Therefore, the cassette must be removed from the housing and the operator must put his hand into the cassette port to reach the jammed paper and remove it.